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How about a Grade The Pictures...
richardshipp
Posts: 5,647 ✭✭✭
... since I can't afford any Newps right now. I'm still reading and re-reading Marks book trying to learn, but it's a lot harder than I thought. Some progress on the capturing color front... although it is (I am) inconsistent... I'm fairly happy with these I just shot... I'll take any advice. The copper looks too sharp or something, I'm not sure what happened there ???
Anyway these are prettier to look at than the "Frankenburen" I exposed you to yesterday...
Here's another thing I don't understand. I took these shots right in a row with no changes to the camera setting. The coin in hand shows the same luster on both sides but the pictures are way different. I have no idea why ???? That's the "inconsistent" thing I am talking about.
Anyway these are prettier to look at than the "Frankenburen" I exposed you to yesterday...
Here's another thing I don't understand. I took these shots right in a row with no changes to the camera setting. The coin in hand shows the same luster on both sides but the pictures are way different. I have no idea why ???? That's the "inconsistent" thing I am talking about.
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For the peace dollar...just because the lighting is the same does not mean that the luster of the coin will be the same on either side. The camera is more sensitive to differences in exposure than your eye is. It seems that the difference between the bright highlights and the dark fields is a bit extreme. Adding a little diffuse light will help to reduce the contrast and even it out. Then, you will have to adjust the exposure on the camera so that the images actually come out identically. Allowing the camera to perform automatic exposure is really an invitation for inconsistent results. I prefer manual exposures for coins when more than one shot is involved and I expect consistency between those two shots.
The connecticut half dollar shows a far more serious problem. It is indescribable, the seriousness of the problem. I may need to see that coin in person.
Diffuse light can be had in many ways. I like to use large (2 x 4 foot) white foam boards. I fix these boards to a small tripod so that I can place them at any location. I place the board above my subject and shine a light onto that board. This bathes the subject in light from various angles...diffuse light. You can also bounce light off of the ceiling in your room if it is a while ceiling. But I prefer the foam board, as I can get it closer to my subject and therefore don't need to use so much illumination. If you want to use your ceiling as indirect, diffuse illumination, you will have to put ALOT of light on your ceiling. A flash unit can do that.
There are also things you can put in front of a light to diffuse it. I think some folks use a plastic milk jug. One can purchase expensive especially made items for lighting. But I find that with a little thought, many household items work very well.
Diffuse light will light up the color of the surface of the coin without catching the luster. You, of course, will still want some carefully placed direct illumination to catch some luster.
Taking time to experiment and play with this stuff...getting used to your photo equipment...getting the most out of it. Yes, it takes time. When you master one technique, there will be a harder one.
Having said all that, the pics are not bad at all...on average 6.5/7 out of ten. The 1926 Peace is an 8.5.
Nice work!
Collector of Early 20th Century U.S. Coinage.
ANA Member R-3147111
I'm not qualified to make technical judgments on the pics. They look quite nice.
That CT commem is lovely, and I like the satiny sheen of the half cent.
Collector since 1976. On the CU forums here since 2001.
Didn't wanna get me no trade
Never want to be like papa
Working for the boss every night and day
--"Happy", by the Rolling Stones (1972)
........................
I think most of the pics are suffering a little from processing, probably in-camera?? Contrast and sharpening seem a little to agressive to me.
The Half Cent pictures I like the best, even though it may not show how brown the cent is in hand. Sharp images, maybe just a t-tiny-tad too grainy.
Very nice strike on the Peace Dollar! Keep pluggin' with the settings and stuff and you'll get it.
-wes
Too many positive BST transactions with too many members to list.
<< <i>Are you zooming up on the half cent? It doesn't have a lot of fine detail. Kinda grainy.
I think most of the pics are suffering a little from processing, probably in-camera?? Contrast and sharpening seem a little to agressive to me. >>
Mark,
I used zoom on all the pictures. My camera is a 3.1 megapixel Point and Shoot Olympus. I didn't adjust the pictures other than to crop them. I set it to F5.3 and didn't do anything else other than to select the macro flower thingy and zoom in as close as I could yet still keep the coin in focus. The camera is on a tripod about 8 inches above the coins. I used a single OTT light directly above the camera. The camera is weird though that even as I'm viewing a coin on the display on the back it sometimes will go bright to dark to bright like its trying to figure out how much light to let in. I can't figure out how to stop it from doing that.
Here's another one I took right in sequence with the Connecticut using the same settings and lighting...I need to follow your advice and get the scratches off the slab one of these days as it detracts from this coin though...
One of these days they are all going your way anyway because I want NICE pics of my coins
First coin: Out of focus at the edges mostly, but not really in focus in the center of the coin either. If you are using autofocus, try focusing manually. You have focused on the slab, not the coin. That is why the sneeze-spray and scratches stand out so well.
Second coin: Is that a rotated die? If not, why is the image rotated? If a rotated die, the reverse should show the rotation while the obverse should be straight. Always image coins straight on with the top at the top and bottom at the bottom. Also, the slab is severely scratched and shows in the image. Some polish is in order here as well as on the first one. Once again, you are not focused on the coin or are using the wrong F-stop.
Third coin: Coin is frosty on the obverse and not on the reverse. Is that the inconsistency of which you wrote? I'd have to see the coin in hand. It looks like it is frosty on the obverse and not on the reverse in real life. This is the best image of yours yet. Focus is better and no slab problems because there is no slab. I find the Peace dollars extremely hard to image true-to-life myself.
I didn't see your "Frankenburen" posting so I can't say if you're improving. Try the slab cleaning and polishing and manual focus and see if you can't get a better image.
Jonathan